Let the Proxies Hit the Floor: Indigenous Bill Sponsorship in Congress

• In Event: Democratic Deficits and Developments in Indigenous Politics

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort by Native advocates to increase the number of Native elected officials and appointees, with the expectation that these individuals may serve as proxies for tribal interests in American political institutions. Native people – American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Indigenous peoples across U.S. territories - have consistently faced policies of termination and disenfranchisement by state and federal governments, effectively lowering their representation and power within the political process. Using a novel dataset, I analyze the bill sponsorship activity of Indigenous members of Congress to assess whether they are more likely than non-native colleagues to prioritize issues of Indigenous concern. Controlling for party and Committee membership, I expect that Native legislators, overall, will expend greater political capital on Native issues as compared to non-Native predecessors who served the same districts prior. This project was funded by the APSA Indigenous Research Grant (2023).

Author

• Elise Blasingame, University of Georgia